February 6, 2004

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

There's nothing like a Dame

Australia's true queen is on the way

by Kaizaad Kotwal

Dame Edna Everage, Australia's most famous and talented drag export, is coming to three Ohio cities as part of her brand new grand U.S. tour, beguilingly titled "A Night With Dame Edna." This time around, Dame Edna has a special Tony Award she received for her Broadway show a few years ago, so this fabulous lass can be expected to toot her own horn more than ever before.

In her usual tone of genuine love tinged with subtle sarcasm, in the show's press materials the Dame says, "It's not enough to be a star on Broadway. I want to get out there where real Americans live. When you see me in your city in America, you will think I've lived there all my life because it's my business to know you intimately possums. I tailor my show to my audience. I pay them that lovely compliment. After all, they have paid me the compliment of coming. The least I can do is to give them a personalized evening's entertainment specially made for them and something that they will never forget."

Dame Edna is the lurid and technicolor alter-ego of Australian actor Barry Humphries. The Dame is a national phenomenon and icon in her native land. Dame Edna's many personas include housewife, talk show host, adviser to British royalty, investigative journalist, guru and legend. It's a wonder this multi-faceted drag queen (in every sense of the

word) hasn't gone schizo.

Dame Edna refers to herself as "possibly Jewish," and as a widow,

with three grown children, she has created a fascinating portrait of a woman from

another era who does have it all—family, career, fame, wealth, panache, élan, style, and best of

all, cojones. The Dame loves to name-drop and brag about her wealth, particularly about spending her time

Dame Edna Everage

visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in Malibu, Mayfair, Melbourne, Montreux and Martha's Vineyard. Even in the U.S. this Aussie dame has amassed

McBeal, as well as her sev-

tickled...

her own Yankee cult following, especially with her recurring role on Ally eral colorful appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She has also many a funnybone on the game show Hollywood Squares with the out Bruce Vilanch and with other gay fave Whoopi Goldberg. Dame Edna's greatest asset is her versatility, finding every occasion suitable to make people laugh, to take subtle jabs at the rich and famous, and to wittily probe society's individual and collective foibles.

Humphries created a Melbourne housewife named Mrs. Norm Everage in the 1950s. It is this very normal, average woman of domestic duties who evolved into the fabulously glamorous and famous Dame Edna Everage.

There is nothing average about this Dame, from her dazzling rhinestone encrusted cat-eye spectacles to her bejeweled and sequined gowns, a cross between the glamour of yesteryear and an over-priced prom outfit circa 1980.

The Dame's show includes songs, dancing, audience interaction and what can only be classified as a group therapy session with a therapist dressed like none seen before. Moreover, like all great satirists and comics, the Dame tailors her shows to the specificities of the town in which she performs.

As Dame Edna personally promises in her press notes, “You won't just smile at my show possums, you will cry with laughter. Remember I stretch those laugh muscles no other show can reach!"

"A Night with Dame Edna" will be in Columbus at the Palace Theater from February 10 to 15, in Cleveland at Playhouse Square's Palace Theater from February 17 to 29, and in Cincinnati at the Aronoff Center for the Arts from March 6 to 14. See Charlie's Calendar on page 8 for

Barry Humphries ticket information.

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